incipient swoon when Carey added the courtly earl's name to the lists, and
Carey had to laugh at his own conceit.
His pique at being rejected was mixed with a huge dollop of relief, of
course, and Captain Lord Delverson was sure he was the happiest person
at the wedding.
It was a small ceremony with a special license, proper for a family in
mourning, a comfort for the community. At Carey's insistence, Emonda
put off her black and wore a lavender gown that added a bit of life to her
insipid coloring, and the white lace mantilla Carey brought back from
Spain. At least she wouldn't frighten the old gent into a heart spasm by
appearing as Death walking at his side. Carey gave the bride away and
what a pleasure that was! and Suzannah, deep in the sullens, was her
aunt's attendant. Squire Jeffers was groomsman, and the earl himself
looked pleased as punch with flowers in his buttonhole and a chaste kiss to
his bride's cheek.
After the finest wedding breakfast Mrs. Tulliver could contrive on short
notice, the happy couple repaired to High Clyme and Carey packed
Suzannah off to school in Lyme Regis.
He did not have to resort to gags and handcuffs, for a short
conversation with Squire Jeffers saw young Heywood off to university, to
prepare for his future and to ensure that he lived long enough to have one.
Carey threatened to extend his stepsister's sentence if he heard a single
hint of misbehavior. "When you are older, I'll ask Lord and Lady Clyme to
sponsor you, locally at least. By then maybe the cursed war will be over
and we can set up housekeeping in London. You'd like that, puss."
At least he wasn't promising to incarcerate her in some silly girls' school
until she reached her majority almost ten years away! "But what about
Woody?"
"The next time you see Heywood, you'll be such a grand lady you won't
recognize your old friends."
"I would never forget Woody. We are Pledged."
Carey leaned back against the squabs and pulled his hat over his eyes.
"You'll see, poppet. Pretty soon you'll have suitors falling at your feet like
autumn leaves. You'll wonder what you ever saw in your freckled Romeo."
"That's hateful, Harmon Carrisbrooke Delverson, and you have no
tender emotions. I wouldn't repudiate my love for Woody if you tore my
tongue out, if you kept me in the darkest dungeon and fed me moldy bread
and water with insects floating in it, if "
"If I tore up all of your Minerva Press novels. Go to sleep, poppet, you'll
need to save your energy to put on a good act for the Misses Snead. I wrote
them I was bringing a young lady to their school."
Carey had one more chore to complete before rejoining the army. Lord
Clyme, honorable gentleman that he was, had charged Captain Delverson
to inform young Wimberly about the wedding. The earl did not want his
heir reading the announcement and thinking he was being cut out of the
inheritance. The land was entailed, of course, but Donald wanted no more
rancor in the family than need be, for Emonda's sake later.
Delverson did not resent this final task at all, even if it kept him from
his men and accurate news of the battles for another few days. As he rode
to London Carey wondered if Miss Wimberly was the empty-headed
society belle her uncle made her out to be, or if she still had that tender
look in her eyes and the calm good sense he admired. He told the driver to
pick up the pace, curiously anxious to find out.
Chapter Nine
« ^ »
I
begin to think no woman will ever catch Gabriel's eye."
"He danced twice with the Winthrop chit last week."
"Yes, but that was because the forward miss cornered him in the
orangery. It was either dance with her or chance being found alone with
her. For all his absentmindedness, my brother is too downy a bird to be
trapped that way."
"Or your way, it seems."
"What, would you have him forced into marriage with some scheming
girl? No, we simply have not found the right bait."
Miss Grimble frowned but went back to studying the on dits columns
and her lists. "Miss Parks seems an accommodating female. She comes to
dinner Tuesday next with her brother. Perhaps she will do."
"Perhaps if she lost a stone and dressed in anything but yellow and did
not agree with whatever anyone said. And the brother is as big a bore,
although Gabe seems to feel his last speech to the Lords was well received.
I am not looking forward to the dinner."
Even Miss Grimble was discouraged by now, after the hordes of women
Rowanne had cast in Lord Wimberly's path and the scores of gentlemen
Miss Grimble had earmarked for her protégée. It seemed to that
strong-willed woman that she had met her match; the Wimberlys were the
fussiest pair alive. Either that or they were determined to stay unwed.
Fools, the duenna thought, knowing how depressing it was to have naught
but one's memoirs for company.
Rowanne did not appear cast down at her single state. She seemed
quite satisfied in fact, sitting at her work table with scissors and glue pot,
attempting to create tiny flower arrangements out of scraps of silk and
green-dyed feathers. She had her brother's looking glass propped up in
front of her, and bits of feather clinging to her simple blue round gown.
Multicolored silk threads stuck to her fingers and in her hair when she
pushed a wayward curl out of her eyes. Rowanne would be content if it
were not for her desire to see Gabe settled before he grew into a reclusive
old woman-hater like their uncle.
"What are the prospects for tonight?" she asked her companion in the
search.
"We go to the Worthingtons' ball, for the debut of their eldest daughter.
There are two others in the schoolroom so they are hoping to pop the gal
off this Season. The grandfather has sweetened the pot with a handsome
dowry, and Lady Aldritch, who knows the family from Hampshire, says the
chit is prettily behaved, well educated, and comely. Lord Worthington,
recall, is on the Fiduciary Council, which is why your brother agreed to
attend. The gal has good connections."
"A paragon indeed. I'll bet she squints."
"Mayhaps Viscount Wimberly won't notice. He did not even recall
meeting Maria Sefton's niece at Almack's last week and had to be
introduced to her again in the park yesterday. Lady Sefton was not well
pleased."
"The girl had spots. But no matter, you are right, I had better go remind
him that we are pledged for this evening or he is liable to forget
altogether." Rowanne put her materials aside for another day and wiped
her fingers on a rag as best she could. She opened the door to leave, but
called back, "If I am to be at all presentable for the Worthingtons' ball, I
shall need extra time to prepare myself, in addition to Gabe."
She shut the door, took two steps into the hall, and walked smack into a
scarlet-coated chest. "Oh!"
Oh indeed.
Those dark-rimmed eyes she so vividly remembered were laughing
down at her. "You are charming as you are, Miss Wimberly," he was
saying.
Rowanne looked around in confusion. Her daydreams had never called
him into being before. A footman stood down the hall, pointedly glancing
the other way. She held out her hand, then recalled her sticky fingers. And
her mussed gown and her hair coming down, oh dear! She pulled her hand
back and bobbed the most awkward curtsy of her twenty-one years.
"Lieutenant, no, Captain Delverson. You are here. That is, in England.
How, ah, kind of you to call."
His smile broadened at her addle-pated dithering, as if he was used to
women literally throwing themselves at him. "Pardon me for not waiting
for an invitation," he said, "and for picking such an awkward hour, but I
was hoping to find Lord Wimberly home from Parliament. I could not help
but overhear that you have accepted for the Worthingtons' this evening.
May I have the pleasure of the first dance? And the supper dance also, if
you have not already promised it? No, even if you have. I leave again for
Spain tomorrow; that should give me some prerogatives."
"Certainly. That is, I would be delighted to save the dances for you. Did
you say you came to see Gabriel?" she asked uncertainly. Whatever could [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]